The Lovely Frown
by Unfortunately Freckled
Summary: Yuugi and Yami must face their toughest enemy yet: Death. The hikari's grandfather has died, leaving him dull, listless, and feeling more alone then he ever has. Yami must now try to make the boy smile before his final choice is needed: Yami or Atemu.YxYY


**The Lovely Frown**

**Chapter One: Liars  
**  
**Author's Note:** Somewhere between the hazy hours of my delirium due to the thick stench of body glitter and determining whether the blemish on my hand was an oddly placed freckle or indeed a pen mark, I decided to write this story. I know the title may seem, um, cliché or in fact just quite undeveloped, but I swear it has a point-er- somewhere. Please enjoy my many fragments and grammar usage errors and afwul spelalings! Hooray for them. Beta readers are totally awesome, especially when they offer to go over my ill grammar…that means I need you. Thanks for um, picking my story to read? ; Here's a quick equation for everyone!  
Author's notes + Me Useless Crap  
Okay, glad that's in the open now. Reviewers will be deemed awesome. Censurers will die Er, don't sue me -.-; All I got is some coke cans and a hairbrush. So if you live in some erratic country where that's the currency, congratulations, you're a rich bastard Enjoy

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It seemed fitting that the funeral chapel looked as if it was dying. The white molding paint on the outside of the church was peeling away to reveal rotten, splintered wood that had miraculously held the caving roof up for eighty-five years. The stairs and the foundation whined ominously in the wind as the whole structure seemed to lean slightly, threatening to fall completely. The stain glass windows had long been busted and replaced with average glass, with a patch or two here and there. Inside, the fading red carpet that seemed appropriate for the 1960s emitted a foul, musty odor that made all the occupants' noses wrinkle in distaste. With the ashy Lotuses that towered in silent beauty to the ceiling, the spotted wood paneling seemed out of place and definitely not fit for a funeral of this caliber. Yami seriously was beginning to wonder why Sugoroku would want his funeral here of all places. 

From the way he described his daring life when he was, in fact, alive, he'd met thousands of people who must've held some connections to a proper facility that didn't moan when someone shifted in their pew. But here he lay, on cushions of white satin just under the alter of this aged church. A horde of people had showed up to pay their final respects; colleagues, friends, simple admirers but none would truly miss him on Monday. Yami's eyes unconsciously moved to Yuugi who hadn't looked up once from his twiddling thumbs yet.  
_When is he going to cry?_

Even when they had received the news of Grandpa's death, Yami had felt tears strike the back of his eyes. But he always had to keep strong for his Yuugi and had forced them down to become an enlarging lodge in his throat. His light, on the other hand, hadn't even mourned his grandfather's death after three days. Surely shock would've sunk in by now, though here he was, dressed in a neatly pressed black suit, with two dull dry eyes._ Yuugi_, he wanted to say, _please just sniffle, let one tear go, anything!_ _This lack of emotion is hurting me worse then your tears would. At least then I could wipe them away._

He remembered how blissfully typical it had been just before the terrible news. Since they led such an abnormal life, every small dose of normality was harmony for the two. They had sat on the worn couch in the living room, watching an afternoon talk show, which had proved to be quite interesting. Yuugi was home sick with an awful cold that caused him to sniffle hopelessly at the prospect at breathing clearly through his nose again. Even with the tissue mountain range on the floor and his ill hikari's incessant sneezing, Yami couldn't have been happier. Anytime with a content Yuugi was precious, even if he didn't know it yet.

"Yuugi," Yami said after watching a bony woman leap at a larger one on the show and roll around tugging relentlessly at the other's hair. "I do not understand. Why don't these barbaric people settle their differences in their homes where they may ravage each other as they will instead of being pulled apart by those more robust men?"

Yuugi giggled (which turned into a slight cough) and smiled. Yami remembered how he took that grin for granted. Yuugi didn't just smile with his lips but also with his eyes. They glinted and danced in the flashing light from the television and Yami simply just kept staring at the T.V outraged by the way the people were acting. If he could go back to that moment, which he would give anything to do, he would stare on at those eyes for as long as he could, embracing the joy to them they now lacked.

" You don't get it Yami." Yuugi answered, pulling his blanket closer to him. " Sometimes they have to go on T.V to get their problems solved. Do you really think that guy would actually talk it out with the other lady if that big guy weren't standing over his shoulder? No, he'd never talk to her again."

Yami looked concerned for a moment. " Yuugi, you watch to much television."

His light furled his eyebrows. "No I don't, it's just common sense. What would they do in Egypt if something like this happened?"

Yami unconsciously flinched at the mention of Egypt. It had been and still was a touchy subject that he desperately hid until it would creep up on him like a thief. He regained his demeanor swiftly.  
"I believe they would've beheaded the obese woman for her first misconducts on the rights of marriage, sentenced the man to back breaking slavery for not nurturing his son, and just kill the scrawny lady because she's simply aggravating."

Yuugi stared on at him with wide eyes and his mouth open slightly.

"It was only a guess." Yami declared quickly.

Yuugi laughed just as the telephone rang. It's odd how the phone chimed as normal as any other telephone call. No disembodied voice whispered in Yami's ear that this would be a life pivoting moment. No chills down his spine, no hair-raising feeling, no tremor of the fate yet to come. Nothing. Nothing whatsoever to suggest it was anything other then the average telemarketer.

"Are you going to get that?" Asked Yuugi in his stuffy voice.

"You know I still have trouble with that contraption."

_ Ring._

"Yami," Yuugi whined. " It's not advanced science, it's the phone. Pick up the receiver and say 'hello, this is my first time on a telephone due to my three-thousand year time gap dilemma, so please guide me through this simple process that I just can't seem to get.'"

_ Ring._

"Yuugi I really don't understand it. It's very—difficult."

_ Ring._

"Fine, fine. Just make the sickly boy who can't breathe do it. You can pay his doctor bill when he passes out from lack of oxygen."

_ Ring. _

"It's only three steps away."

Slightly fuming, Yuugi stalked into the kitchen to answer the phone, his long blanket trailing like a cape behind him, though seconds later he peaked around the corner and stuck his tongue out childishly at Yami, and finally retreated to answer the highly impatient phone. Yami simply waved it off, not knowing it would be the last gleam of happiness he would show for the next three days. Yami watched the television attentively for the minutes he was gone, for he scarcely detecting the small pads of Yuugi's returning feet on the carpet. For Yami it had felt like just a few minutes, for Yuugi, a lifetime.

Often, when one revisits a disconcerting situation, they revise the small, seemingly inconsequential pieces that built upon each other to create the overall, troubling effect. It's only in their minds that the threads weave a pattern that is pleasant, for outside the barriers of the head, the old cloth instills. Yami learned this rather unconsciously; for there were many things he wished he could've done to ease the brut of Yuugi's pain. It would've been him who had answered the phone and had taken on the responsibility of the news. He would have noticed Yuugi's slow, sad steps that took him ages to follow. He would've noticed when his hikari wrapped his humble arms around the back of his neck, that something other then a measly cold was the matter.

"Yuugi, stop playing. I only made you answer the telephone. You only have a cold, not the flu." Yami had said, which now seemed utterly harsh given the circumstances.

"Yami," Yuugi softly moaned into the warm crook of his neck. Yami shivered. "It's horrible."

Slightly unnerved by the odd, yet pleasant sensation bubbling in his stomach, he said. "Well yes, but you'll get over it in a day or two, correct? Come sit down, with all those tissues you've piled on the floor, there's no way you are not dizzy."

Yuugi complied silently and Yami once again shuddered as his tepid arms slowly left his neck. "Now you can explain these whimsical commercials to me. Why would anyone want to buy from these awful people who interrupt the program?"

"I don't know." Yuugi whispered so softly it was barely audible.

"Well it's highly aggravating." Yami stated, vaguely wondering about Yuugi's quiet voice. He stole a glance at him only to see that he wasn't even looking at the T.V, but rather at his slightly pale hands, twisted together.

"So who was on the phone?" He interrogated, retaining his incisive gaze on Yuugi's downcast eyes.

"A man."

Yami waited for further explanation. When it didn't come he proceeded on.

"Who was he?"

"A police officer."

The once-sprit straightened up from his casual position. It was almost amusing to think that then he had wondered whether Yuugi was in some kind of trouble, only the gloomy glaze over his own consciousness kept him from laughing.

"What did he want?" He asked rather hastily.

"To tell me something."

He waited, patiently, but there was no response. "_And_ what did he tell you?"

"Grandpa's dead."

It was if something electric struck Yami and shocked his mind blank. If he had been expecting anything, it wasn't that.

"W-What?" Was all he could manage to get out.

"Grandpa's dead." The hikari repeated in that lifeless, dull tone he had sadly now grown accustomed to.

"Wha-How?"

"He was walking to the store."

Yami waited in suspense for more, but nothing came. Looking back, he now realized how odd it was that Yuugi didn't even cry at the mere thought of it.

"And?"

"His heart got him."

Yami stared, bewildered and stunned.

"His heart got him?"

"Yeah."

"What-? Yuugi are you just playing around? Listen I'm quite sorry that I made you answer the telephone, but this really isn't funny."

"No, I'm not." The boy was shivering slightly.

Yami couldn't remember how many thousands of seconds of thoughts had flashed rapidly through his mind only that the sterile truth was creating a stiff lump in his throat.

"Wh-What does that mean?"

Yuugi finally lifted his head where his lethargic lavender eyes stood as a beacon of his overwhelming shock.

"He traveled the world, you know- to more places then I can even remember. He's been shot in the knee and the arm, almost mauled to death by a tiger and bear, and he fell off one of the tallest bridges in the world. All that—Only to be killed by the one thing that stood by him, his heart." Yuugi smiled, an awful twisted smile of an abyssal pain that contorted his face. His eyes didn't dare smile with him. "Isn't it funny how something so small could kill such a big man?"

Yami had been in a hazy stupor ever since. He could barely stand to think or examine the loss of grandpa on just himself. There was a gaping whole where grandpa once was and there was no solace that it would ever be filled again. But if he felt this bad, he wondered how horrible the loss gnawed at Yuugi.

A flash rain shower began to bombard the rickety church and many of the mourners began fidgeting, frightened the church might just collapse. The windows became translucent waterfalls, distorting the world outside to look as if everything was melting away. Water began to seep from the ceiling and drops began to fall. One in particular hit the wrinkled preacher square on the nose, though he didn't even wipe it away. He was to far into his passionate speech about Yuugi's grandfather to even notice.

"—The finest of the finest. I know he would've given me the shirt off his back. He was a giving generous man. In fact, he told me once, just once, why he had given up his risky life of games. He said it was because of his grandson, who was only five at the time. He said the child had recently lost his mother to a car accident and the father had gone to America seeking a job. He told me he would rather give up the chances of a game he thrived on for his grandson, who didn't have a chance without him. He will be deeply missed and—"

Next to him, Yami felt Yuugi stir and stand up abruptly. The pew moaned loudly and all eyes suddenly became focused on him. Even the preacher halted his speech to look up.

"Yuugi please sit down!" Yami whispered frantically, gently tugging on his sleeve.

"_You left me_." The very air in the musty room stiffened as if frozen by the frigid anger behind the words. Yami was shocked to see Yuugi shaking with suppressed fury.

"You promised." He hissed. "You promised you'd never leave."

As suddenly as he stood, he rushed out of the church, despite the protests of his friends. He threw the doors open and ran out side into the sheets of rain, leaving the mammoth oak doors to swing violently back and forth on their hinges. There was pure silence. After a few moments, Yami followed the path his hikari had taken, as if it were his place. He closed the molding doors carefully behind him.

"Yuugi!" Yami called over the heavy descending rain. He stepped out into the street, which had become like a shallow river, and called again. This time, however, he used an affectionate nickname and a gentler voice to let Yuugi know he wasn't mad for his outburst.

"Aibou!"

Slowly, a small figure from across the street stepped out from the depths of an alley, completely drenched. Yami hurried forward.

"Aibou," Yami sighed sadly as he gazed at his hikari's wilting hair and soaking suit. "You're going to make your cold worse."

Yuugi shivered and looked away. "I don't care."

"But I do." Yami uttered softly, reaching forward to embrace him. Yuugi quickly stepped back.

"_Liar!_" He hissed fiercely. The rain seemed to pick up silencing them both as they merely gazed at one another. Yuugi, stubborn. Yami, gentle.

"How can you say that? Haven't I always been beside you? Haven't I always been right there when you needed me? Remember, dark and light?" Yami mentally cringed at how desperate his voice sounded. He was begging Yuugi to agree.

"No!" He cried, gesticulating widely with his arms. The rain was becoming more and more painful on Yami's shoulders. " You lied to me too! You said the same thing that grandpa did. You're not gone yet, but you will be. You'll go away!" His voice rose to dangerous heights. It sounded as if it was beginning to be strangled by his very throat.

"You'll leave me! You'll leave me too! Only you'll be like a ghost. I won't even have anything left of you!" Yuugi's speech seemed to of hit it's climax and his knees went limp as he fell to the pavement with a splash. The flooding water rushed at his legs. "At least grandpa has a grave I can see…A grave—Is so weird to say. But you'll go even without that. You'll go and just leave me alone, by myself. You liar grandpa…you liar Yami…" Yami couldn't tell if the water droplets sailing down his pale, pale face were rain or tears. Yami crouched to his knees as well and lifted Yuugi's head with a strong hand.

"I won't leave you. We'll get through this together, alright?" Yami declared, trying his very best to swallow the lump in his throat that reminded him of his half-lie. It was his choice to stay; Atemu or Yami.

"You liar!" Yuugi cried so loud it seemed to tear his throat to shreds. He began to slam his tiny fists against Yami's firm chest. He watched him sadly, those petite hands and puerile arms desperately trying to hurt something. He was trying to release some of the horror and confusion he felt bubbling in his chest. It was eating him from the inside out. All the while he chanted softer and softer, "_you liar…you liar_…"

Yami encircled his arms around Yuugi, who strangely didn't protest. He pulled him to his soaking chest, placing a burly hand on his wet hair. Yuugi still whispered. "_You liar…you lair_…"

"Shh Yuugi, please don't be sad anymore. Smile for me, please?" He rocked back and forth, attempting anything to quiet Yuugi's accusing voice.

"_You liar_…"

"I promise you Yuugi, I'm going to make you smile again. I swear to you, that lovely frown will not stay forever."

"_You lair_…"

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**  
Oh my god**…You have no idea how long that took to write. What is it like March? Well I started this I think about October or so-ish. Oh my good goodie goodness! I'm so finished! The next chapter will be out sometime or another, not that long I hope. Did anyone find hints of symbolism? I tried to drop some in there, because I dunno I'm trying to get more matureish. Gay-ass Lord of The Flies, making everyone feel so insignificant. The rain is symbolic of—I dunno I forgot and I'm to lazy to remember right now, so just pretend I'm special and cool, aight? Eee! I'm so happy it's finally finished I just want to rant now about how damn long that took, but y'know I don't want to annoy people cause that's rude and stuff. Please review! I will love you forever. I swear on Grandpa's grave. Wow, aren't I just a heinous ass today? I just got back from a band concert. Okay I'm done I swear. Review and I'll reply and everything, promise 

(Restrictions apply. Results may vary.)

With some love and other stuff,

_Freckled._


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